I was looking through my recipe archives and realized I had not posted a recipe for a classic…. American BBQ Chicken. I am not sure how this happened, but I am fixing this, right now. This is not your mother’s BBQ chicken… this triple flavored BBQ chicken recipe is going to change your BBQ chicken for life! I am calling it Triple BBQ Chicken because it is infused with flavor 3 different ways. Even if you only use 2 of these 3 steps, you are going to be ahead of the game. This is how its going down….

Marinate the chicken in a cilantro orange marinade to infuse flavor deep into the chicken

Rub the chicken with an awesome balanced BBQ rub prior to grilling

Grill and Glaze the chicken with a sweet heat BBQ sauce at the end of grilling to add one more layer of flavor

I have loved every reverse seared ribeye that I have grilled. I figured a reverse seared tri-tip could not be too bad… and yes… it turned out pretty damn good, so I am sharing it with you!

When picking out a good tri-tip roast, try to pick out the largest one you can find. When using the reverse sear technique, you want a nice thick steak, ideally at least 2 inches thick. This allows you to slow cook the tri-tip at 350 F for about one hour, and then sear the hell out of it for a few minutes on each side. Tri-tip is a regional cut of beef to some extent, more popular on the West coast. If you have trouble finding a good tri-tip, contact your local butcher ahead of time, or usually you can find them at Trader Joe’s, if you have one in town.

Useful Tools when Grilling a Reverse Seared Tri-Tip

How to Grill a Perfect Reverse Seared Tri-Tip

Pick out a nice large Tri-Tip, ideally over 3 lbs and 2″ thick.

Season Heavily with a Salty Peppery Rub. Let the rub marinate over night, loosely covered in the fridge. I used GGs tri-tip rub for this recipe, which I received from the Grill Masters Club. Check out my review of Grill Masters Club for more information on their services.

Setup your grill for indirect heat, at 300-350 degrees F. I use a webber kettle for my reverse seared tri-tips and ribeyes.

Place on the grill, away from the coals for about one hour, grill closed. Flip the tri-tip half way through. Monitor the internal temperature of the tri-tip steak and pull the tri-tip when it reaches 110 F.

Set the tri-tip aside and then leave the cover off the grill, allowing the coals to burn hot and wild.

Place the tri-tip steak back on the grill and sear for a few minutes on each side. You want the internal temperature to be close to 130 F for a nice medium rare steak.

Let the tri-tip rest for 10 minutes before slicing thin for serving family style or making delicious steak sandwiches.

I mentioned I used GGs Tri-Tip Rub for this Reverse Seared Tri-Tip. If you want to make your own rub, I would suggest using the same rub I use for my Reverse Seared Ribeye ……

1.5 Tablespoon Kosher Salt

1 Tablespoon Course Ground Pepper

0.5 Tablespoon Ancho Chile Powder

0.5 teaspoon Ground Cumin

You can use this rub on a lot of different meats with great results. I use it all the time on steaks and burgers and have also used it for chicken wings, legs, and thighs. Make this ahead of time and keep it in a spice jar to use as all purpose beef seasoning.

If you give this a try… let me know how it turns out in the comments section below or drop me a line on Facebook.

If you love a good steak, then you will wet your pants for this Reverse Seared Ribeye, seasoned with an awesome 4 ingredient rub and finished with parsley butter. I did not believe all the hype behind the reverse sear method, until I picked up a 2.5″ thick ribeye one Friday afternoon and gave it a try…. mind blown…. life changed forever. You will end up with a evenly cooked steak, medium rare throughout, with an awesome salty crust developed on the outside. I have been Reverse Searing Ribeyes a few times a month since the first voyage, and it is heaven every time.

Buying your Ribeye

For a perfectly grilled Reverse Seared Ribeye, you want a big thick steak. I will not go below 2″ in thickness and usually have the butcher cut a 2.5″ thick ribeye. You can expect this to weigh about 2 – 2.5 lbs depending on the source. I like to go to Fareway here in Iowa, as they do whatever you want and usually act happy during the process. Hy-Vee grocery…. not so much… they are not always thrilled to custom cut a fresh steak for me. Buy one 2.5″ thick ribeye for every 2-3 people depending on the crowd you are feeding.

The perfect Ribeye will have a good amount of fat marbling, but not huge portions of fat running through the steak. Try to avoid Ribeye’s with a large fatty area in the center… they do not cook up as well and make slicing up the steak more difficult. The steak below turned out pretty good. Ideally, I would like to see a little less fat in the center-left area, but it still turned out great.

If a nice Ribeye is not available, try a 2.5″ thick New York Strip or you could use this same method with a thick beef tenderloin.

What does Reverse Seared mean?

Typically, steaks are cooked over high heat for several minutes on each side until you reach the desired temperature. For me, I am shooting for 130 degrees F. However, this can be tricky as the temperature tends to jump pretty quickly over high heat if you are not paying close attention….

Over the years I have tried Asian Glazed Chicken Wings at a number of restaurants. All of them have been tasty in their own way, and have inspired my own take on this awesome snack. This asian glaze will bring a tangy heat to any grilled chicken wing and can also be used for chicken breasts, legs, thighs…. or Pork and Beef. In the next few weeks I am going to try it on grilled short ribs…. could be a winner?

Slow Cook – on the grill/smoker over indirect heat at 400 F for about 45 – 60 minutes. Turning the chicken wings every 15 min.

Finish Hot – grill over high direct heat on each side to crisp the chicken wings. If your grill is very hot, this may only take 30 sec on each side, but could take a few minutes a side if not so hot.

Glaze– coat the chicken wings with the Asian Glaze and enjoy!

The Rub

For these Asian Glazed Chicken Wings, we want our glaze to shine the most. But, we still want a nice layer of seasoning absorbed into the chicken wing, so we are going to use a complimentary rub. My Sweet Lov’n BBQ Rub has a nice balance of salt, sugar, and chile powder that provides a nice back drop for the Asian Glaze. The sugar and spice will also help develop a nice caramelized crispy skin when we finish the wings over high heat at the end of the grilling. The ingredients are below….

2 T Celery Salt

6 T Kosher Salt

12 T Brown Sugar or Turbinado Sugar

6 T Ancho Chile

1 T Black Pepper

2 T Paprika

1/2 T Onion Powder

1/2 T Garlic Powder

1/2 tea Ground Cumin

1 tea Cayenne Pepper

This rub brings a little heat and sweetness which goes along well with our sweet, hot, and tangy Asian Glaze.

The Asian Glaze

You can make this asian glaze ahead of time. It takes about 30 minutes to make, allowing some time to reduce the mixture into a nice syrupy viscosity.

Asian Glaze Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil

2 teaspoons Freshly Grated Ginger Root

1 Large Clove Finely Chopped Black Garlic (fermented garlic – found at Trader Joes for sure). Use one clove of fresh garlic if needed.

3/8 Cub Honey

1/4 Cup Sriracha Sauce

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar

Juice of 1 Whole Lime

Juice of 1 Whole Orange

Big Pinch of Black Pepper (add last after testing for heat level)

Pinch of Red Chili Flake (add last after testing for heat level)

Asian Glaze Preparation

Add the sesame seed oil, ginger, and garlic to a small sauce pan. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Mix in all other ingredients besides black pepper and chili flake. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until it reduces down into a syrupy viscosity.

Taste, then add black pepper and red chili flake to desired spice level. I like a big pinch of each.

I love all sorts of chicken recipes and I like all parts of the chicken. One part of the chicken that gets a bad wrap outside of the BBQ world, is the chicken thigh. People just don’t understand how delicious a well cooked thicken thigh can be. Today, we are going to fix that entirely. By removing the bone and slow cooking these Chicken Thighs, we are going to create crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside Smoked Boneless Chicken Thighs. They are great for serving as a main dish or a starter for an all out BBQ smorgasbord. You can also use this same recipe for bone-in chicken thighs. Use this exact same process if you do not want to mess with the bone.

Smoked boneless chicken thighs with the butchers twine removed and ready for serving

The process is really easy. While prepping the chicken thighs, setup your grill or smoker for indirect cooking and bring the temperature up to 350 degrees. If needed, give your grill grate a good cleaning as well…. thanks Booker!

Our dog, Booker, loves to help clean the grill grates

Then remove the bones from the chicken thigh using a sharp knife that is not too big. I prefer a boning knife. Simply start by cutting down to the bone from the skinless side of the thigh and then start slicing both sides of the bone and scraping the flesh off of both sides of the bone, until you can pull or cut the bone out. Then check for any rough inedible surfaces you might need to cut off.

Below is a video showing how to debone a chicken thigh……

This is what your chicken thighs should look like after deboning them. We are now ready to season and tie with butchers twine

After removing the bone, season both sides of the chicken thigh liberally with one of my favorite rubs. Then tie them up with butchers twine. By tying them up, the chicken thighs will become little rolls of crispy tender deliciousness. Season again after tying them up if needed. You want a nice even coating of rub all over.

Season the underside of each chicken thigh before tying them up

Tie the chicken thighs up so they are slightly snug. They will firm up as you smoke them.

Finish seasoning the chicken thighs with an awesome rub

Then cook them at 350 F for one hour over indirect heat. I love using my weber kettle for this recipe. It is so easy to setup for indirect heat and easy to cleanup as well. I add a small hand full of apple chips on top of the charcoal to start the cook and then usually let the charcoal do the rest from there.

Start skin side up for 20 minutes, flip skin side down for 20 min, then finish skin side up. The skin should be a nice golden brown at this point. You can check the internal temperature of the thighs and they should be over 150 F at this point.

Smoke over indirect heat for about one hour around 350 F. I prefer using a Weber Kettle or Big Green Egg for chicken thighs.

Remove the butchers twine and finish the boneless chicken thighs over medium to high heat. Flip often to crisp the skin without burning.

When they have nice color and the skin is starting to crisp up, place them directly over the coals or move them to your gas grill if you have one over medium high heat. You want to flip them every minute or so, grilling both sides of the thigh until the skin becomes nice and crispy.

You will end up with little crispy nuggets packed full of flavor. Remove the twine and serve as is, or carefully slice up for snacks. Leave me a comment if you give these a try or have any questions!

Our beautiful boneless chicken thighs… crispy salty sweet skin and perfectly juicy on the inside. Glaze with BBQ sauce before serving or let the dry rub do the talking.

Smoked Boneless Chicken Thighs

Learn how to smoke perfect Boneless Chicken Thighs with this easy to follow recipe. Dry rubbed and slow cooked, these Smoked boneless chicken thighs are an awesome treat for dinner.

Course
BBQ, Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine
American, BBQ

Prep Time15minutes

Cook Time1hour20minutes

Total Time1hour35minutes

Servings2

AuthorKeegan

Ingredients

4Chicken Thighstwo per person or more

2Tablespoonof Good Lov'n Rub or Sweet Lov'n Rub

Instructions

Remove thigh bones

Check for any rough cartilage after removing bone. Remove if needed.

Rinse and dry each chicken thigh

Apply rub to all parts of the thigh, evenly coated

Tie up with butcher twine to keep the thighs nice and compact

Heat the grill/smoker to 350 F and setup for indirect heat

Put a chunk or small handfull of apple wood or cherry wood on the coals before putting chicken on the grill.

Place chicken on the grill, skin side up. Cook for 20 minutes, then flip skin side down. Finish with the skin side up for 20 minutes. Cook for 1 hour or until the skin starts to become slightly crispy.

Remove the butchers twine. Heat the grill to medium high heat. Grill over medium to high direct heat, turning every 1-2 minutes until the skin is nice and crispy

Let cool for 5-10 minutes and serve. Glaze with BBQ sauce or leave dry if you want to preserve the crispy skin.

Recipe Notes

Cooking time can vary depending on the size of thighs. Check internal temperature for 165 F if needed.